Mason County, WA Trash & Recycling: Collection Schedule (2026)

Mason County Code Section 13.30.030(A)(3) sets the default rule for certificated haulers serving the unincorporated urban and rural areas of the county, from the Belfair and Allyn UGAs to rural Hood Canal routes: recycling pickup runs on the same day as garbage pickup. A hauler that wants a different schedule must first demonstrate to the county that geographic or development limitations, such as narrow road width or low housing density, require a separate truck system or collection day. The ordinance spells out the process in two steps.

First, under subsection (a), the hauler must identify the specific area affected, propose the alternative schedule, and state the reasons supporting the change. Second, under subsection (b), the county reviews the request against several factors: whether the number of affected customers is minimized, whether program participation would suffer, whether the alternative produces substantial cost savings, and whether it could actually raise participation and recycling rates, along with any other information the hauler submits. This schedule requirement sits inside the county's broader Minimum Levels of Service ordinance for residential recycling, Chapter 13.30, adopted in 2009 to implement the state's source-separation and affordability goals for solid waste.

Because the rule runs through the hauler's WUTC certificate rather than a resident-facing permit, a household's actual pickup day depends on which certificated hauler and route serves that address, and any deviation from the same-day default has to be justified and reviewed under this specific process before it takes effect.